What Do the Instructional Technologists Do?

Instructional Technology is a broad-based concept. Mostly, we help to make instructional applications available to faculty, staff, and students for teaching and learning. However, that entails several different responsibilities, including:

• Sharing information about what technologies are available and promoting their use. This means letting everyone know what we have, where it is, and how they can access it.

• Instructing and supporting faculty, staff, and students in the use of technologies. Expect to see training workshops, weblinks to information and resources, FAQs, and other ways to empower all users to make the most of our technologies. If you're an expert with a particular program, application, or system, let us know so that we can draw on that expertise for the benefit of the whole campus. If you'd like to become an expert with a system, let us know and I can help you work toward that goal.

• Recommending the acquisition of technologies to both the local and district administrations. If we see or hear about something that would prove useful on our campus, we'll advocate for its adoption. Likewise, if you see or hear about something that you think would be useful, let us know so that we can get the process of evaluation and possible adoption started.

• Supporting distance education. Since the EVP has overall responsibility for distance education, we'll be working with her and the Distance Education program in order to help improve effectiveness and accessibility.

We aim to be facilitators, advocates, and partners with everyone involved in instruction. We already have some plans underway that should get us off to a good start, and we hope to work with the campus communityto make technology a valuable part of life at OC.

Contact

Faculty Resource Center

The Faculty Resource Center (FRC), located in the Tutoring Center Wing of our New Library/LRC, is a technology-rich environment created for use by full- and part-time faculty. The FRC is intended to help enhance teaching methods, support distance learning, and provide professional development. It also serves as a place where faculty can meet formally or informally to share ideas, lower barriers between disciplines, form learning communities, and promote innovation. The Instructional Technologists, whose offices are in the open drum area of the Library/LRC, are available to assist faculty in discovering, exploring, sharing, developing, and utilizing technologies.